Hesperia Man Met with Aggression After Saving A Man From a Burning Car

HESPERIA-(VVNG.com): At about 12:47 a.m. on Saturday morning a bystander was in the area of 7th Avenue and Farmington Street when he noticed a white Mitsubishi sedan on fire. The male bystander stopped his vehicle and ran to see if anyone was inside.

A man was inside the vehicle passed out so the bystander, identified as Ralph Rodriguez pulled the lifeless body of the man out from the vehicle and administered CPR. Almost immediately after regaining consciousness, he became belligerent and began attempting to fight the man who pulled him to safety. “He (the unconscious man in the vehicle) was too drunk to beat him up, but he did fight my husband’s efforts to keep him safe,” said Amber Lee Rodriguez.

She continued to say that they asked him if anyone else was in the vehicle, and the apparently intoxicated man would not answer. Firefighters arrived to the fully engulfed vehicle and were able to quickly extinguish the fire. It was determined that there were no other occupants in the vehicle.

The sole occupant of the vehicle was taken into custody by a deputy from the Hesperia Station. “We are just happy we got to him in time, because right after he was removed the car was engulfed,” added Amber Lee Rodriguez. She said her husband is still coughing from the smoke inhalation, but overall is doing well.

Ralph Rodriguez’ mother, Diane Beltran Rodriguez said, “The young man who saved him was my son. He recently got married to Amber Lee Rodriguez. He works as a substitute teacher at our local school district so caring about others is in his blood. [He was] Raised by this single parent since he was 3, he and his brother are my proudest achievements.”